How’s this for a wild idea. (crazy, impractical, dangerous,
stupid, you pick the adjective) Since most state governments have
budget surpluses and the federal government has a deficit, why not
propose that the states use their surpluses to bail out the feds.
Of course the states would attach strings, just as the feds do when the
situation is reversed. End NCLB, eliminate environmental
regulations, etc. You get the idea.
At the time of the founding, Hamilton proposed, over the vigorous
objections of Jefferson and Madison, that the feds assume the state
debts from the Revolutionary War. It wasn’t that Hamilton wanted
the debt, he skillfully reasoned that the new federal government would
gain the allegiance of the people in the states who held the
bonds. The states were likely to default and if the feds paid the
notes the people would support the new national government. It
worked, perhaps too well.
